How Will Spanking Bill That Allows Bruising Restore Parental Rights?

A Kansas lawmaker is proposing a bill that would allow teachers, caregivers and parents to spank children hard enough to leave marks.

Current Kansas law allows spanking that doesn't leave marks. State Rep. Gail Finney, a Democrat from Wichita, says she wants to allow up to 10 strikes of the hand and that could leave redness and bruising. The bill also would allow parents to give permission to others to spank their children.

It would continue to ban hitting a child with fists, in the head or body, or with a belt or switch.

Under the guise of "restoring parental rights and improving discipline," this bill neutralizes parents' authority and their ability to protect their children from harm.

To say that it is permissible for teachers and babysitters to strike a child with up to 10 blows opens the door to child abuse.

Parents don't need permission from the state to discipline their own children-- and parents need to stop asking for it. The state has cast a shadow of fear of prosecution over parents. In doing so, it has created a generation that feels powerless to control their children--so many of them abdicated their responsibility. Giving teachers and babysitters the right to leave whelps and bruises won't fix that.

If the state really wants to restore parental rights and improve discipline in schools, it needs to get out of the way. Stop viewing children as if they were a national resource to be regulated and cultivated. Give parents the respect and support they deserve.

Discipline is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. A course of discipline that's needed to keep one child alive can destroy another. Parenting is a skill, one that is learned through trial and error and can only be tempered by sacrificial and unconditional love.

Here is a recent Facebook post from a mother,

He's not even 2 yet and he's so hard to keep up with! I've never had to take naps until now! In ONE week, he had a cold, then an ear infection, flushed my bra down the toilet, swallowed 2 marbles, set my stove on fire, (long story), choked on a sucker (which was the hardest and scariest moment. Never had my [paramedic] husband say LET'S GO TO THE ER NOW! That was scary. We ended up not going-he was fine, thanks to his daddy! Then tonight he stuffed 3 popcorn seeds up his nose. I'm sooooo tired, need prayers for strength...Thank you for understanding why I haven't done much to the house.

You can't legislate parenting any more than you can pass a law that will create good kids.